


The Helpers Helper

by Simply_A_Cherry_Bomb



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternative Universe - Highschool, Fluff, Humour, I tried to be funny, I'm not funny, Light Angst, M/M, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Past Relationships, Sort Of, a little based off beyond the boundary and oregairu, anime enthusiasts where you at, other ships, tagging is not my specialty
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-05
Updated: 2020-03-14
Packaged: 2020-08-09 19:57:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20122864
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Simply_A_Cherry_Bomb/pseuds/Simply_A_Cherry_Bomb
Summary: Mark ran past the last few students in the school and quickly got to the staircase. The sweat by his hair rolled to his jaw, and he bit his lip. He might not make it.He shook his head and strengthened his grip on the railing. Mark raised his foot and stomped on the stairs, pushing himself up. Within seconds he had managed to fly up half the stairs.Mark opened the door to the roof and took a deep breath, looking up at the blonde haired male who was standing on the edge of the railing."Excuse me!" Mark yelled, his hair flying up as he bent down to take another deep breath. "Don't jump! Life can seem meaningless sometimes, but you're not supposed to give up hope!"Mark went on for a few moments, and the blonde standing in the railing remained still. As Mark came to the end of his long speech, he took his last deep breath, finally calming down from the run he did and spoke again."And especially someone who looks this good in glasses must not die!" Mark finished, bending down to catch his breath. The blonde on the railing glanced over his shoulder and made a weird face."Eh?"or when Mark misunderstands something, and somehow ends up becomes Donghyuck's helper





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> not edited, just saying

"I like you." Donghyuck said stretching his hand out towards the light pink haired girl standing in front of him. He held his breath to form a small blush over his face. The girl awkwardly pushed the chocolate in Donghyuck's hand back to him and cleared her throat.

"I'm...sorry." She said, shuffling beneath her feet. "I like someone else."

Donghyuck held in the urge to smile and frowned. He looked at the floor and then slowly at the door behind the girl. The door was slightly open, and the guy who asked for Donghyuck's help stood there, covering his face with his hands.

"Can I ask who?" Donghyuck said, tilting his head to the side. The girl looked at him with hesitation, and then nodded.

"His name's Jiwoon." She whispered, covering her cheeks as she got slightly embarrassed by confessing. The guy behind the door, who's name was Jiwoon, clutched onto his chest and smiled brightly.

The girl bowed down and then turned around to exit. Jiwoon quickly left the hallway and ran down towards the back of the school, where he had already invited the girl Donghyuck was speaking to.

Donghyuck watched as the girl left and then let out a sigh. He brushed his hand through his hair and then exited the classroom as well.

He didn't like the girl. Of course not. He was only doing it to help someone else out. Jiwoon had come to Donghyuck and asked if he could help him get with some girl in their class. Donghyuck immediately agreed to helping, and found the easiest way to do it. He would confess to the girl, and obviously get rejected, then he would ask her who she likes. Once she confirms her feelings for the Jiwoon, then Donghyuck would continue on with his life, except with a little more money in his pocket.

Donghyuck hurried to the roof top and climbed onto the railing. He looked down at the ground and could see Jiwoon standing there with his hands shaking. Before Donghyuck could call out words of encouragement, the girl appeared and made her way to Jiwoon.

The girl shyly nodded as Jiwoon spoke. Then as he fidgeted with his fingers, he yelled something, which Donghyuck could very clearly hear, and the girl gasped, or at least Donghyuck thinks she gasped by the way her mouth parted and Jiwoon looked up in confusion.

Donghyuck smiled to himself and stood up on the railing. It wasn't exactly a railing, more like a ledge. He stood on it and looked down at the newly formed couple on the ground. He was about to leave when he heard the door burst open and someone from behind him yelled.

"Excuse me!" Donghyuck didn't bother turning around, since he assumed the person had already mistaken him as someone else. "Don't jump! Life can seem meaningless sometimes, but you're not supposed to give up hope!"

_Who the fuck is this Saint wannabe. _Donghyuck thought, still smiling at the words the person was saying. He looked down at the couple, who had now left the area and sighed.

"And especially someone who looks this good in glasses must not die!"

Donghyuck felt heat creep up to his cheeks and he frowned. He glanced over his shoulder and stared at the black haired male with confusion. His glasses slipped down his nose slightly, but it didn't really matter, since they were only there for fashion.

"Eh?"

The black haired guy stood up straight and then covered his face with one of his hands. The embarrassment of saying those words finally reached him. Despite feeling extremely embarrassed, the guy walked forwards towards Donghyuck and pulled his hand.

Donghyuck felt the guy tug his hand and he got pulled off the railing. The guy wrapped his arms around Donghyuck and pat his head.

"It'll be okay." The guy whispered, still patting Donghyuck's head.

"The fuck." Donghyuck muttered, trying to pull away from the guys grasp, but failing to do so.

"Shh, I know a lot must be going on in your life." The guy said, now brushing his hands through Donghyuck's hair and rubbing his back. "But you should know better. Suicide is not the option."

Donghyuck's eyes widened and he held in a laugh. The guy thought that Donghyuck was going to commit suicide. He had never even thought of that.

"Uh, I didn't come up here for that." Donghyuck replied, putting his hands on the guys chest and pushing him away from himself.

"You don't have to lie to me!" The guy said, shaking his head and placing his hands in Donghyuck's shoulders. "I'll always listen to you. You can always come to me."

Donghyuck raised his eyebrow at the weird guy in front of him and sighed.

"I'm not suicidal." Donghyuck said, frowning even more when the guy in front of him sighed in annoyance.

"I saw you get rejected by the girl." The guy said, awkwardly putting a hand on his neck and then shuffling backwards. "I'm just saying, by killing yourself, you're not going to make time go back or anything."

Donghyuck stared at the guy and shook his head. He couldn't be bothered to explain himself, so he got up and made his way to the door.

"Wait!" The black haired guy called out, quickly running forwards towards Donghyuck. "I'll drop you off at your house. By the way, my name's Mark."

Donghyuck sighed and then nodded, turning around and leaving the roof top. He casually walked down the stairs, with Mark running after him, and then took his stuff out of his locker. Mark watched him from behind, to make sure he didn't try to kill himself _again, _and then finally waved at Donghyuck once they reached his house.

As Mark left, Donghyuck entered his house and then opened the blinds on his window, too see Mark disappear around the corner. A small smile crept up his face and he shook it off

"What an idiot."


	2. Chapter 2

"Donghyuck!" Mark said, entering the empty classroom that Donghyuck was currently resting in.

It was after school, and everyone was either going home, to cram school, or to their after school clubs. Donghyuck was at the moment in his after school club. And no, his club was not a resting club, it was a services club.

Which meant, people would come to Donghyuck and ask him for help, and he would have to find ways to help them. Obviously, he didn't do it for free, I mean, who would? There was no other member in this club, as no one really wanted to go out of their way to help others, and honestly Donghyuck was fine with that. He didn't need other people's help to do things.

"What is it Mark?" Donghyuck opened his eyes and glared at the black haired male.

Ever since the incident on the roof, Mark was always coming to Donghyuck's classes and dropping him off to his house. He was worried that Donghyuck might try to do another suicide attempt, so he wanted to stop him.

"Just found out you're part of this club, can I join?" Mark asked, pulling a chair and sitting besides Donghyuck.

Another reason why no one joined the club, was because not many knew it even existed. When joint group activities were to happen, Donghyuck would be absent from school, so that he won't have to work with another club. And since it was a services club, people would like to keep it a secret that they got help from Donghyuck, as it sounded quite embarrassing when telling a story of how you got with your girlfriend or even broke up with them.

"No." Donghyuck replied, closing his eyes again and praying that someone would enter and ask for his help, so that Mark would leave him alone.

"Too late." Mark laughed, pulling out his slip which said that he had joined the club. "Before coming here, I asked the teachers if I could join."

"But you need permission from a member of the club to join!" Donghyuck quickly got up and took the slip from him.

"I did." Mark smiled, as he watched Donghyuck read through the slip. His eyes stopped as he came across the name of the member who let him join.

"Na Jaemin." Donghyuck hissed, passing the slip back.

Jaemin was the only other member of the group, But he never actually came for activities, or when anyone asked for help. The only reason why he was part of the club, was because he was forced to choose one, so he chose the one with the least amount of work needed.

"I'm surprised he was part of this club." Mark commented, leaning back in his chair and stuffing the paper into his pocket. "I just thought he somehow found a loop hole in the system and managed to not have to choose a club."

Donghyuck sighed and then closed his eyes. All he wanted was to sleep until someone asked him for help, which was slightly rare, since not many people needed another person help for small things.

"Excuse me?" The door opened and a bleached hair boy entered. He looked quite younger than Mark and Donghyuck, and he shyly fidgeted with his hands.

"Yes?" Donghyuck sat up in his chair and gestured for the boy to take a seat.

"This is the services club, right?" The boy asked, taking a seat and then looking down at the floor.

"Yeah, how can we help you?" Mark asked, turning around in his chair to face the boy, who nervously tapped his foot on the ground.

The boy looked familiar, but Donghyuck couldn't exactly remember where he had seen him.

"My parents are trying to call me back to China, because I'm failing in class, but I don't want to!" The boy said the last part louder than the rest and his hands were shaking. It was clear he was extremely nervous, and worried, about going back to China.

"Do you want us to convince your parents?" Donghyuck asked, unsure as to how they were supposed to help him. The boy shook his head and then looked up at Donghyuck.

"Can you guys tutor me?"  
  
  
  
  
  
  


☀️  
  
  
  
  


"Are you kidding me." Donghyuck said, as his jaw dropped whilst he read through the report of the boy, whose name was Chenle. 

"I know!" Chenle said, covering his face to hide his embarrassment. He was definitely failing his exams, but how could you blame him? There was a guy in class he couldn't keep his eyes off.

"It's okay Chenle." Mark said, as he pat Chenle's back. "We'll help you pass with good grades."

Since Chenle's parents were still in China, he was staying with his cousin, Sicheng. For the weekend before the final exams, Sicheng, who was a college student, was going over to his best friends house, to let Donghyuck, and Mark have all the space in the apartment to...well.. somehow teach Chenle.

"How do you not know how to calculate the area of a triangle?" Donghyuck said, putting down one of Chenle's maths papers. He was honestly confused as to how to help this kid, who barely got 30/100 in all of his tests. Since the passing grade was 70, Donghyuck needed to just somehow get him to at least that number.

"It's... hard okay!" Chenle said, dropping down onto his bed and rolling around in his blanket. Mark laughed at him and then pat Donghyuck's back.

"Come on, let's start with basics right?" Mark said, pulling out one of the textbooks and opening the book to a random page filled with questions. "Come here Chenle."

Chenle climbed off his bed and crawled towards Mark. He picked his pen up and started to write some answers down. Donghyuck read over them and sighed when he saw Chenle write, '144 ÷ 12= 14'.

Mark noticed Donghyuck's annoyance, so reached his hand over and tapped his back again, flashing a smile as he comforted the younger. Donghyuck looked at the clock and then down at Chenle's paper.

They had approximately 60 hours till Chenle's first exam, and honestly, they had no idea how they were going to make him pass.  
  
  
  
  


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"Good luck." Donghyuck said, patting Chenle's back and then waving at him as he walked towards his classroom, where his exam was going to take place. "Do you think he'll pass?"

Mark glanced over at him, and then back at Chenle and sighed.

"I don't know, but I hope he does." Mark turned around and then grabbed Donghyuck's hand, causing him to flinch. "Let's go to lesson before we get late."

They weren't in the same year, so Mark quickly dragged Donghyuck to his class and then dashed away to his own. He was doing that so much, that Mark's own friends thought he had gotten a boyfriend and not told them. He didn't even realise he was practically babying Donghyuck until his friends pointed it out.

"Late again." Lucas said, leaning towards him and poking his cheek. "Dropping off your boyfriend to his lesson I'm guessing?"

Mark glared at him and then turned his attention back to the teacher. It was weird. He first was only dropping Donghyuck off to his lesson because he wanted to make sure he was safe, but now he just did it because he liked doing it. He was weird.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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"Chenle?" Mark called out, putting his hand onto the younger boy's shoulders and spinning him around. Exams were finally over, and they all hoped the exams were as great as how Chenle described them to have been. When he got out of the exam hall, he was beaming, acting as if he had just found out he passed and wasn't having to move back to China.

"Did you pass?" Donghyuck asked, trying to take a look at his report. Chenle lowered his head and then sighed.

"I can't believe this." Chenle said, slowly raising his head. "How did I pass?"

Donghyuck sighed a little, before realising what Chenle had said, and then quickly snatched the report from him.

His results, were horrible. But they were passing marks. Enough to let his parents stay there. 

Chenle jumped up in excitement and then threw his arms around Donghyuck and Mark, pulling them into a hug.

"Thank you so much!" Chenle said, shaking them and then pulling away from the hug. "I'll treat you out to dinner as the payment!"

Mark and Donghyuck exchanged looks, remembering the fact that Chenle was pretty rich, so he was most probably going to be able to afford a pretty gosh damn good meal for them.

"We deserved it." Mark laughed, wrapping an arm around Donghyuck who smiled a little and nodded. 

"We deserved it..."


	3. Chapter 3

"I'll be back in a week!" Chenle yelled, waving frantically at Donghyuck and Mark, who waved back at him as he closed the door to the clubroom.

After the two had helped Chenle with his exams, Chenle insisted to join the club. When Donghyuck refused to let him join, Mark guided Chenle to the exit, only to help him return with a club slip, saying that he was now part of the group. But now his parents called him to China to do some family things, and so he had to leave school for a while, and honestly, Donghyuck wasn't complaining.

The door which Chenle had just closed, reopened and a brunette poked his head in.

"Um...." The brunette looked at Mark and then at Donghyuck, before finally entering the room. "Are you guys the services club?"

"Yup!" Mark happily said, gesturing for the single chair that was laid in front of the two in the middle of the room. The brunette nervously walked over to it and took a seat, glancing between the two. "What do you need help with?"

"Um, basically." The brunette fidgeted with the edge of his jeans and then looked up at them. "My name's Jisung, and there's someone stalking me."

Donghyuck's eyes widened and he coughed loudly, causing Mark and Jisung to look his way.

"Stalking? How did that happen?" Donghyuck asked, not knowing how to save the guy from a stalker. Jisung sighed and then started to tell them the story of how he discovered he had a stalker.

He had gone to his friend's party, but the party had older kids as well, and so when he was there, he made eye contact with this much older guy, and the guy gave him a strange look. Later that night, Jisung got up to leave, and that same guy also got up. When Jisung was going home, he could see in the reflection of stores that there was someone following him, and he could clearly see it was the same guy. Once Jisung reached home, he looked out of his window, to see that guy look up at Jisung's house and then turn around to walk away. After that day, Jisung always felt paranoid, since he could sometimes see movement from the corner of his eyes.

"Holy crap." Mark said, making sure to censor himself in front of Jisung, who they had now acknowledged was a lot younger than them. "Should we follow you as well, so we could cross paths with the stalker?"

Jisung turned to Donghyuck who put his hand to his head. They could follow Jisung, but that wouldn't be as efficient to catch the person.

"Or." Donghyuck said, putting his hand down and looking over at Jisung. "We could let you walk to the park in the night, and then whilst you're there the guy would be nearby, and in a widespread area, it would be easier to find him."

Jisung and Mark nodded, before shaking their heads and getting off their chairs.

"At night!"

"Alone!"

They turned to each other and Mark nodded at Jisung, telling him that he won't let him get used as bait like that.

"Fine." Donghyuck said shrugging his shoulders and leaning back in the chair. "Find your own way to find the stalker."

"Challenge accepted."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


☀️  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Um." Jisung and Mark stood in front of Donghyuck, awkwardly shuffling on their feet. Donghyuck looked up and smirked, shaking his head as he knew this would happen.

"We'll do the plan tonight. Let's exchange numbers." Donghyuck said, pulling his phone out and taking Jisung's number, texting him the time and location to be at. 

"Have you planned it all?" Mark asked, sitting besides Donghyuck, slightly confused as to how Donghyuck had already decided the timings and place.

"No." Donghyuck replied, laughing internally as he actually _had_ gone through the effort to check the park and make sure it was open and clear enough to catch a stalker. "Now shut up, I'm trying to sleep."

Mark nodded and then narrowed his eyes as he saw a small cut at the bottom of Donghyuck's jaw. He reached forwards and touched it, causing Donghyuck to flinch and hiss in pain. He glared at Mark then looked away, covering the cut with his hand and closing his eyes again.

"How did you get that?" Mark questioned, grabbing Donghyuck's hand and pulling it away to examine the wound again. Donghyuck jerked his hand away and huffed.

"You don't need to know." Donghyuck said, lowering his head and trying to fall asleep again.

"Why aren't you going home?" Mark continued to ask Donghyuck. 

Once they had completed club activities, they were allowed to go home, and today Jisung was the person they were serving, therefore their job was done for the moment. And so, Mark was confused as to why Donghyuck was not leaving, but instead choosing to remain at school and sleep.

"Mark!" Donghyuck groaned and then stood up, picking his bag up and walking over to the door. "You should just mind your own business."

The door shut with a loud noise and Mark flinched.

"What's wrong with him."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


🍉

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Mark put his hand on the ground to stabilise himself and then turned to Donghyuck, who very easily jumped over the gate and landed on his feet. 

"How did you do that so easily?" Mark asked, confused because he knew Donghyuck wasn't into athletics, yet here he was, jumping over a park gate effortlessly.

"I do it quite often." Donghyuck replied, shrugging his shoulder and then crouching down to get hidden between the bushes. 

Mark joined him and then the two shuffled, keeping their eyes on the brunette who was glancing over his shoulder continuously, and then looking over at Donghyuck and Mark to make sure they were still there.

"Look there!" Mark whisper-yelled, pointing at the open gate of the park. A small figure entered with a good over his head. "He looks a lot more smaller than what Jisung described him to be?"

They watched the figure wobble down the same path Jisung had just previously watched through and then finally hide behind a tree when Jisung turned around. Once Jisung left the path and began to walk into the middle of the open field, it was clear that his stalker was panicking. 

"Now!" Donghyuck said, swiftly running from Mark's side and over to the stalker, who still hadn't realised that Donghyuck was coming to him. "Caught you!"

Donghyuck grabbed the stalkers shoulder and spun him around on his heels, pulling off his hoodie and mask. The stalker shrieked and then covered his face with his hands, immediately dropping to the floor. Mark came from behind and wrapped his arms around his waist, jumping up and letting Donghyuck see his face. As soon as Donghyuck lay his eyes over the stalkers face, his smile dropped and his face palmed. 

"Oh my god."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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"So." Mark put his leg up on the sofa and leaned back. "Mind explaining why you were stalking Jisung?"

"I-" Chenle took a deep breath and then sighed. "I was first following him without realising it was basically stalking, and then overheard the fact that he was being stalked, still not realising that it was me, and so I followed him to make sure he was safe. The guy that Jisung thought was his stalker was actually my older brother who I asked to follow him home and make sure he was safe."

"You're so stupid Lele." Donghyuck said, accidentally calling him by a nickname. "You could've just told Jisung you liked him."

"You like me?!" Jisung turned to Chenle in surprise, whilst Chenle's eyes widened and his face turned red.

"I- No- I mean- Donghyuck hyung!" Chenle cried, throwing his hands around and hitting Donghyuck, who just wiggled in his seat trying to dodge his hands.

"Well...just so you know." Jisung spoke up, shyly looking at the ground and then back up at Chenle. "I like you too."

Chenle stopped hitting Donghyuck and froze in his stance, eyes widening at what Jisung had just said. He turned to Jisung slowly, a small chuckle escaping his mouth. He blinked a few times, before closing his eyes and falling to the floor. Mark and Jisung rushed to his side, calling out his name, whereas Donghyuck remained in his seat and rolled his eyes.

"So dramatic."


	4. Chapter 4

"Get a room." Donghyuck said, rolling his eyes when he saw Chenle and Jisung giggle next to each other. He wasn't disgusted, in fact kind of happy to see them so being so...cute? But he found it uncomfortable because Mark was also in the room, and was staring at Donghyuck the same way Jisung was at Chenle.

"But Hyuck." Chenle pouted, shuffling his chair closer. "We're waiting for someone to ask for our help."

"Oh yeah!" Jisung got up from his chair and dragged it across the room, creating the sound that everyone hates. He stopped in front of Donghyuck and then sat down, facing the back of his seat. "I wanted to ask you why you decided to make a services club when you hate everyone."

"I don't hate everyone." Donghyuck rolled his eyes, pushing away Chenle who muttered a small "sure you don't", and then leaned back in his chair. "Also I made this club to help people, that's all."

"Why though?" Chenle pushed, also feeling quite interested in Donghyuck's answer. "And Mark hyung told us about how you don't go home on time."

"Mark." Donghyuck glared at Mark, who shrugged his shoulders and gestured Donghyuck to answer the question. "It's nothing. I just like staying at school and you never know when someone needs your help."

Jisung detected Donghyuck's extremely annoyed tone and then nudged Chenle to stop as well. The two then shuffled back to their original position and continued talking about the things that happened in the day.

After Chenle was caught as Jisung's "stalker", Jisung decided to also join the services club. He was part of the football club, but they only did practices on Tuesdays, so he was free every other day. Chenle signed his joining slip, without telling Donghyuck, and then the two happily skipped into the room, swaying the slip in front of Donghyuck, who just sighed and said that he gave up on all the hope he had for humanity.

"Anyways, is anyone gonna ask for help or not!" Mark said, as he stood in front of the open window and yelled. His voice echoed for a while and he blushed a dark shade of red when someone replied to him saying no.

Seconds after Mark did that, the door opened, and a blonde haired male entered. Donghyuck groaned when he saw him and then leaned back in his chair. The male smiled at everyone, closing his eyes as he did so, and then took the empty seat closest to Donghyuck.

"So." He started, poking Donghyuck's side. "I need some help."

The others in the room glanced at each other, and then at Donghyuck, who sighed and then smiled a little. He pushed Jeno lightly and laughed, shocking the group, since they hadn't seen Donghyuck act so freely around someone.

"What is it you weirdo?" Donghyuck asked, ignoring the stares he was getting from the rest of the room. He never joked around with them, but here he was, joking around with a random guy (random for them at least).

"I wanted to give something to someone." The blonde, Jeno, replied, reaching for his phone and taking a picture out to show them. He shoved the phone into Donghyuck's face before letting the others get a lot of it as well. "It's chocolates."

"Are you going to confess your crush or something?" Mark asked, remembering how it was nearly valentine's Day soon. Donghyuck snapped his head at Jeno and raised an eyebrow, leaning back in his chair and holding a hand over his chest.

"You're going to cheat on me?" Donghyuck asked dramatically, pouting as he said the words. Mark and the others coughed and then turned to Donghyuck with surprise. He noticed it and quickly dismissed the confusion. "It's a joke."

"Yes Hyuckie." Jeno joked, elbowing him, before starting to explain how the chocolates were to thank someone for all the things they've done for him. Donghyuck stared at him with a lot of suspicion, and then nodded along, already making a plan on how to make and give the chocolates away. "Thank you."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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"Let's make the chocolates." Donghyuck said, pulling out packets of milk and white chocolate. He dropped them on the counter, thanking the fact that the cooking club allowed then to use their classroom for the afternoon, and then turned to the others, who were staring at him with confusion. "All you have to do it melt the chocolates and put them into the tins, to freeze."

The others nodded, separating into pairs and getting ready to start the melting. Chenle and Jisung put a bowl of chocolate blocks into the microwave and then started to talk, discussing their mutual hate for their biology teacher, only to cry out and jerk open the microwave door and sulk over their burnt chocolate. Jeno and Mark, on the other hand, casually put the chocolate in, standing in silence, before taking it out and pouring it into the tins. Donghyuck groaned as he watched the chocolate spill across the table and dirty the floor.

"It's such an easy job, how are you guys failing?" Donghyuck questioned, helping both pairs, and then showing off his perfectly made chocolate pieces. "Jeno, just use mine."

Jeno hesitated, reaching over to grab the pieces of chocolate which were now completely made, and then bowing slightly, whispering an apology for messing up.

"It's okay." Donghyuck sighed, then moved forwards to pat Jeno's back and run it up to his neck, squeezing it a little before returning to his previous place. "By the way, who is this for?"

Jeno fidgeted with the small bag of chocolates, lowering his gaze to the floor and nervously sighing. He looked back up at Donghyuck, glancing at the others before finally speaking.

"You wouldn't wanna know." Jeno replied, quickly walking over to his bag and picking it. Before he could make it out of the doors, Donghyuck grabbed his arm, tugged him backwards and glared at him.

"Is it Nana?" Donghyuck questioned, ignoring the confused looks he got from the others, who were a bit surprised by his sudden change in attitude. Jeno let out a shaky breath before nodding, and Donghyuck huffed. He shook his head, continuing to glare at Jeno before taking his own bag and exiting the classroom. The others stared Jeno, hoping to get answers.

"Who's Nana?" Chenle started, seeing that no one had the guts to say anything. Jeno's eyes slowly travelled to him and he sighed again.

"Nana is Jaemin." Jeno finally answered after a couple moments of silence. The four stood in the classroom, noises from the window echoing and causing them to feel more awkward than before. Without Donghyuck, they had no idea how to communicate with Jeno, as none of them had ever met before.

"Does Donghyuck not like Jaemin?" Jisung continued the questions, and Jeno shifted us their gazes.

"He hates Jaemin." He replied quietly, almost inaudible, but they all heard him. Mark raised his eyebrow and then walked over to Jeno.

"Why?" Mark waited, but Jeno decided to not reply, instead he shook his head and then dashed out of the room to escape any further questions. The remaining three then all sighed in sync before cleaning up the room, remembering how the cooking club had warned them to not make a mess.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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"So, how'd it go?" Mark asked, wrapping an arm around Jeno, who sat on a lunch table alone. Jeno tilted his head to see who it was, before nodding and smiling softly at his plate.

"It went well, he accepted it." Jeno took a bite into his food and then turned to Make in confusion, as he didn't understand why he was still there. "What's up?"

"Why does Donghyuck hate Jaemin?" Mark questioned. After what had happened yesterday at the club, Mark couldn't stop thinking about what it was about. He was worried for Donghyuck. When he arrived to school today, he saw Donghyuck walking through the hallways, anger and annoyed, pushing aside anyone that got in his way and not even sparing an apology for any of them. 

"I can't tell you." Jeno quickly stuffed his face with the rest of his sandwich and attempted to escape, but Mark captured his wrist on his hands and dragged him back. "Mark. I can't."

"I won't tell anyone, just please." As Mark continued to basically beg Jeno for some answers, Donghyuck entered the hall and immediately locked eyes with Mark. "Shit."

Before Mark could pull himself away from Jeno, Donghyuck spun on his heels and hurried out of the doors. Mark fell onto the table and let out a loud groan, giving up on Jeno, who ran out of the hall as soon as he escaped from Mark's clutches.

"I need to find out!"  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


🦉  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


Donghyuck huffed once again, trying his best to get the image of Jeno and Mark out of his mind. He was already angry at Jeno for keeping contact with Jaemin after what he had done, and now was angry at Mark for choosing to hang out with Jeno instead of him at lunch. Sure he found Mark boring, and a little annoying, but he also enjoyed his company.

Donghyuck burst into his house, kicking his shoes off at the corner of the entrance and then climbing the stairs to the hallway. As he passed by the living room, a certain brunette exited and pouted at him.

"Hyuck, welcome home." Donghyuck snapped his head at the brunette and narrowed his eyes, before tearing them away from him and towards his room. "I got chocolates today, want some?"

"No _Jaemin_." Donghyuck said disgust dripping from his words. "I don't want your chocolates. And I thought I told you to stop calling me Hyuck."

Before Jaemin could say anything else, Donghyuck tightened his grip on his bag and quickly ran to his room, slamming the door shut loudly behind him.


	5. Chapter 5

Donghyuck was nine when he first met Jaemin. The two happened to become seatmates, and Donghyuck extroverted personality immediately clicked with Jaemin's. They soon got known as the annoying duo that made sure to mess around in class. Although they both had the best grades in their class, they were the ones who got most in trouble.

When they managed to finally somehow get into year 6, Donghyuck finally mustered up his confidence to ask Jaemin out. It was awkward, embarrassing, and most probably the most stupid thing Donghyuck had ever done.

He had kicked Jaemin out of his house and decorated it with all of his favourite things. Bought a bunch of things with the little allowance he had, and then spent the rest of the time cooking Jaemin's favourite dishes. Once he was finished, Donghyuck called Jaemin, who had been wandering around the streets trying to waste time, back inside and showed him around.

Since Jaemin's mum had been working night shift that day, Donghyuck decided to call his dad up and tell him that he was staying over at Jaemin's, like he always did when it got too late. Jaemin had reacted in a more pleasant way than what Donghyuck had expected. He stared at the plushies with shock, and then turned around to hug Donghyuck. He was the only one who remembered his birthday.

"Jaemin, I need to tell you something." Donghyuck had said, shuffling around on the sofa the two were sprawled out on, both thanking the fact that they didn't have school the next day.

"What's up Hyuck?" Jaemin asked, raising his head and accidentally knocking noses. Donghyuck looked down at Jaemin, who had been tucked under his arms in a tight hug, and took a deep breath. They had been friends for more than 3 years, so that should've been enough to develop big feelings for his best friend.

"I like you." Donghyuck answered, looking away and trying to focus on the screen which played some old sappy movie the two secretly wanted to watch but complained about. "Like, a lot. I like you a lot. And in the romantic way."

Donghyuck thought that Jaemin might've softly rejected him, since he already knew Jaemin was also into guys so wouldn't have had a disgusted reaction. But what he got was something he didn't think would happen, at all.

"I like you too." Jaemin said, bringing his hand to Donghyuck's cheek and placing a kiss on his cheek. Donghyuck normally wouldn't have gotten flustered by that action, since Jaemin's always been affectionate, but after finding out that he also had feelings for him, it caused a lot more impact.

It was only once Donghyuck reached high school when everything started to fall apart. His dad started having issues with his health, and the stress from work wasn't helping either. Unlike other irresponsible single dad's, Donghyuck's dad made sure to stay sober all the time, and gave Donghyuck as much love as he could.

But of course, that wasn't enough. The day Donghyuck returned home to see a piece of mail on the entrance floor with large red writing on it, he knew that meant bad news. Donghyuck picked it with his shaky hands, knowing that something bad would be coming from it, and then opening it, too impatient to wait for his dad to come home.

The letter was one stating that Donghyuck's dad was too deep in debt and if he didn't pay back soon, the house would be taken away from them.

Donghyuck didn't understand how taking the only bit of shelter they had would force them to somehow generate more money, but that didn't matter at the time. Instead, Donghyuck rushed to his phone, texting his dad everything that happened, and then calling Jaemin for help.

Of course like always, Jaemin arrived at his house within a few minutes and enveloped Donghyuck into a big hug, patting his head whilst telling him that it was going to be okay. That night, Donghyuck's dad, who reached home pretty late, told Jaemin that his mum was calling him, so he stepped out to talk to her.

Jaemin didn't return, however. He had said he would. He had said that he would stay with Donghyuck throughout the night and then walk with him to school the next day. But he didn't. Instead, he went home.

The next time Donghyuck met Jaemin, well technically he didn't meet him, Jaemin dipped his head and walked in the opposite direction of Donghyuck, leaving him alone by the gates. At first, Donghyuck guessed it might've been because Jaemin didn't see him, or maybe it's because he was in a rush. But then when they had class, and Donghyuck turned to Jaemin, who was no longer his seatmate, and was about to ask him to partner up with him, he was greeted by an empty and no partner. Throughout the lesson, Donghyuck eyed Jaemin, who had made a new friend Jeno, and wondered what was wrong.

After finally gaining the courage to do so, Donghyuck found himself standing in front of Jaemin's front door, holding his breath and knocking on the door softly. The door opened and Jaemin froze once he saw Donghyuck. Just as he was going to close the door, Donghyuck stuck his foot in between and leaned forwards.

"Why are you avoiding me Nana?" Donghyuck asked, his eyes wide by sadness, and hands shaky. Jaemin groaned quietly and then let the door open fully. He stood up straight, closed his eyes, let out a deep breath, before saying,

"Donghyuck, I think we should break up."

That would've been enough to make Donghyuck respect Jaemin's decision, move back and tell him it's his choice. But Jaemin had more to say.

"I don't feel the same way anymore." He said, avoiding eye contact since the mood had immediately dropped even lower than before. "I don't think I ever actually felt the same way. I mean, you're annoying and loud, and honestly I don't like guys like that. Donghyuck- i- don't cry, come on, just- listen I don't like you, so I can't force myself to be with you. I hope you understand. Bye."

With that, Jaemin closed the door on a crying Donghyuck. God, that was so embarrassing now that Donghyuck looks back at that. He looked so weak and stupid. It made Jaemin think (because it was the truth) that he was too dependant on him and that he couldn't live without him.

From that day onwards, Jaemin continued to ignore Donghyuck and started to become friends with some older guys in their school. He became popular and people soon forgot he even had a friendship, or relationship in general, with Donghyuck. His friends group wasn't the only thing that changed, Jaemin's personality also changed. From the loud and sneaky Jaemin, he had become this flirty and soft person that Donghyuck didn't even recognise him anymore. Jaemin began to dye his hair different colours, and the amount of girls that died over him were increasing.

But Donghyuck tried his best to not pay attention to that. Instead, he started hanging out with Jeno, who found Jaemin's change a little unattractive, and the two actually became friends.

The little bit of happiness Donghyuck found in being friends with Jeno was destroyed the day he came home to his dad talking to some lady in the living room. He tiptoed through the hallway and poked his head through the door. As he laid his eyes upon the lady, his heart dropped when he saw her turn around and give him a small smile.

"Donghyuck." She said, patting the seat on his left, since the one on her right was taken by her own son. "You came at the right time."

Donghyuck ignored her and stared at the pink haired boy who was causally munching away on the biscuits his dad had served out. How could he be so calm in Donghyuck's house after nearly a whole half a year of avoiding him?

"We were thinking about um," Jaemin's mum looked over at Jaemin, who simply shrugged his shoulders, giving her the sign that he was fine with what was going on. "Getting married."

"What?" Donghyuck asked, genuinely confused. As far as he knew about the relationship his dad had with Jaemin's mum, they acted as if they were siblings, so why would they do this.

"We were hoping you would be fine with this?"

_Definitely not, _is what Donghyuck wanted to say. He wanted to tell them that they can't get married and that they shouldn't, and it was mostly because of his selfishness that once they get married, he won't be able to be allowed to look at Jaemin in the way he does. But Donghyuck knew. He knew that his dad's happiness, or whatever he was doing this marriage for, was much more important than the stupid little crush Donghyuck still had on his future step brother.

"Yeah." Donghyuck said after a few moments of silence. He dropped his head and quickly muttered, "I'm fine with this", before hurrying out of the room and ignoring his dad's call.

The marriage wasn't such a bad idea, now that Donghyuck thinks back to it. His dad was struggling financially, and Jaemin's mum was basically swimming in wealth. So when they got together, life was getting easier. That was until he got asked to move in with Jaemin.

"What do you mean move in with Jaemin?" Donghyuck questioned his dad, who sighed for the tenth time and tried to convince Donghyuck it was the best thing to do at the moment.

"Listen Hyuck." His dad reached over, a little hurt when Donghyuck moved away from his touch. "Me and your mum-"

"Step mum." Donghyuck corrected, feeling a strange feeling in his stomach when he said that. Of course he loved Ms Na- I mean Mrs Lee, but wasn't willing to accept her as his mother.

"Yes... We're moving to another city," His dad pointed out, since he had found a much better job elsewhere, and thanks to his wives flexibility to transfer somewhere else, they managed to find an even better house there. "And because you're being so stubborn and want to stay here, we're thinking of making you and Jaemin share an apartment."

"Why can't I live alone? Or why can't he go with you?" Donghyuck tried to find a way out of it. He tried so hard. But it didn't work. His dad bought the apartment and had planned on leaving the very next day, so Donghyuck was forced to pack his stuff and settle into the apartment.

He remembers clearly how Jaemin had attempted to approach him, with hopes to fix the problem between them (which in Donghyuck's eyes was entirely Jaemin's fault), but Donghyuck didn't even bat him an eye. Instead, he walked past Jaemin, ignoring the calls he got and went into his room.

It would be a lie to say that he didn't nearly cry himself to sleep because of how bad he felt.

That's when Donghyuck decided that instead of moping around about how sad his life is, he was going to help others with whatever they wanted, even if he didn't like them. Because that's what the old Jaemin used to do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> a short backstory on what  
happened between Jaemin and Hyuck


	6. Chapter 6

Mark stood in front of Donghyuck's apartment, tapping his foot on the ground impatiently. After what happened yesterday, he made sure to come over to Donghyuck's house and walk with him to school, clearing the awkward tension around them and then finally returning to the club in peace. Yesterday Donghyuck ditched on the club and went home, thankfully they didn't have any request, but it still caught them off guard.

The door to the apartment opened, and Mark quickly cleared his throat looking up with excitement, only to frown and stumble back by what he laid his eyes on.

"Jaemin?" Mark asked, eyeing the male who exited through the door and looked at Mark with confusion.

"Oh Mark! What're you doing here?" Jaemin answered with another question, joyfully jumping down the steps and giving Mark a side hug. "How'd you find out where I live?"

  
"I came here for Donghyuck actually..." Mark awkwardly shifted in his spot, watching as Jaemin's expression dropped, before quickly turning into a large smile.

"Oo! Are you close with my Hyuckie?" Jaemin poked Mark's chest, which might've received a bit of jealously when he heard the nickname. In that moment, Mark understood why Jaemin was so popular. He had never looked at the brunette with any interest, as the boy seemed like an annoying person (which Mark was pretty sure he is), so now seeing him this close, Mark was surprised by how good looking the younger was.

Although he had an annoyingly loud and creepy laugh, his cheeks were tinted a light shade of red, which was most probably makeup, and his lips coated with a bit of lip gloss. Mark examined how Jaemin's eye lashes were so long that he could see them pat his cheeks every time he blinked, and his eyes sparkled as they stared at Mark.

Once he realised what he was doing, he also noticed Donghyuck standing by the door, watching the two. Mark quickly jumped back, causing Jaemin and Donghyuck to flinch by his action, and turned to Donghyuck.

"Hyuck let's walk to school together?" Mark said, in a more questioning tone than it was supposed to be. Donghyuck spared one glance at Jaemin, before hopping down the small stairs and grabbing Mark's hand, tugging him towards the school, and ignoring the way his cheeks lit up by the contact. "I'm sorry by the way."

"Why are you sorry?" Donghyuck asked. Sure, he was annoyed that Mark had hung out with Jeno, and was standing way too close to the brunette Donghyuck hates, but he didn't want Mark to apologise for something that was normal. Even if what Mark did made Donghyuck feel something weird, he didn't want him to say sorry for having other friends.

"Because you're angry at me." Mark whispered, and lowered his head. "You aren't talking to me. You're avoiding me. I obviously did something wrong."

Donghyuck stopped walking and sighed. He turned around to see that Jaemin had crossed the road and was walking on the other pathway, before turning his attention to the raven haired male who was staring down at the floor.

"It's okay Mark." Donghyuck said softly, slipping his hand back into Mark's and then pulling him. "Anyways, we should hurry up, don't wanna get late to school."

Mark snapped his head at his watch and then audibly gasped, before tightening his grip on Donghyuck's hand and running forwards, dragging along the other. Jaemin watched the two bump into people whilst laughing loudly, and smiled.

"Finally Hyuck's happy again."  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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"So you want us," Chenle pointed at himself and then at the others in the room. "To help you," He then gestured towards Renjun, who was confidently sitting on his chair, "Find out who your secret admirer is?"

"Precisely." Renjun answered, flashing a smile at the guys and then reaching down to his bag to pull out a bunch of papers. "I would've found this cute, if the person didn't know what the code for my locker is."

"They put it in your locker?" Jisung asked, thinking about how their lockers work. A small code is typed in and then it unlocks, and because of its design, there was no other way to put a letter into the locker without a code.

"Yes. That's exactly why it's creepy." Renjun answered, looking down at the animal shaped pieces of paper, which had nothing but sweet words written over them. "You guys can help me, right?"

"Of course!" Mark said enthusiastically. He dragged his chair forwards so that he could see everyone, and then spoke up again, "We could come to school a little early and then hide until this secret admirer appears!"

"Alright." Donghyuck nodded, holding his hand to his hair to tug it, before turning to Mark and shooting him a glare. "Stop being for excited, if you keep this up, we'll get caught by the person."

Mark pursed him lips before shrugging his shoulders and diverting his attention to Jisung. The two spoke for a while and Donghyuck smiled at them. It felt nice talking to others so casually again, and not be so alone all the time. Sure Donghyuck had Jeno, who tried his best to spend lunch with him everyday, but seeing his friends group increase and get filled by all these weirdos, it made Donghyuck happy.

"You know Jaemin talks about you." Renjun said, taking a seat besides Donghyuck and leaning towards him, making sure no one else would hear him. "He talks about how you guys were such good friends, and how—"

"I don't care." Donghyuck rolled his eyes, regretting the fact that he agreed to helping one of Jaemin's friends, but he had to since it was something he promised to do.

"I'm just saying—" Before Renjun could speak further, Mark cleared his throat and placed and hand over Donghyuck's thigh, catching their attention.

"I'll drop you home." Mark said, glancing at Renjun, who accepted defeat and moved away from Donghyuck, before smiling back at the blonde. "If that's fine with you?"

Donghyuck forced back the smile that was creeping on his face and nodded, standing up to grab his bag and leave. Mark was making him feel weird, but Donghyuck wasn't exactly complaining.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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"What if it's some old guy sneaking into our school?" Jisung asked as they dipped their head under a table. Currently, the services club members were all hiding in Renjun's classroom, yawning continuosly since none of them woke up this early, (early for everyone except Donghyuck as he was used to being awake at 5am), and keeping an eye out for this secret admirer. 

"Impossible." Donghyuck scoffed, shaking his head and then freezing in his spot as Mark's hand brushed against his. The small blush that crept up his face disappeared as soon as the door to the classroom opened, and footsteps echoed in the room. 

"They're here." Mark whispered, stating the obvious before placing his face on the side of the table, trying to get a better view of the person, but failing to do so because of the chair in front of him.

The person hurried into the room, tapping against the lockers before typing in the code for Renjun's. A small giggle bounced around the room, and it would be a lie if the guys said it didn't cause them to smile. The sound of paper shuffling around in the locker continued to be heard, until a satisfied hum signalled them all to jump up.

"Stop right there!" Chenle yelled, holding his hands out with finger guns and eyeing the stranger. As soon as the guys jumped out, the stranger shrieked before dashing towards the door, managing to escape from Jisung's hands and running down the corridor. 

"Cut them off from the other staircase!" Donghyuck said, throwing his bag to the floor and pushing past Jisung, sprinting to catch up with the admirer who had made it to the stairs. Mark yelled something back before running to the back door and flying down the other staircase, quickly jumping forwards onto the first person he saw. "Mark!"

Donghyuck's voice came out muffled as Mark wrapped his arms around him and the two hit the ground, both groaning out in pain. A gasp was heard from down the corridor, and Mark snapped his head towards the sound, and his jaw dropped as he saw the person.

"Lucas?!"

And with that, the blonde streaked boy turned the corner and disappeared from their sight.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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"Alright." Mark said, pulling the chair out from under the table and taking a seat, all whilst shooting Lucas confused stares. "What was that?"

After the incident that took place in the morning, Lucas had been missing all day, until last lesson, which he thankfully decided to attend, hoping Mark had forgotten about what had happened.

"Nothing?" Lucas shrugged his shoulders, choosing pretend as if nothing had happened, so that he could escape the questions Mark would ask him, and the judgy looks he might receive. 

"Come on, that was definitely something." Mark pressed, feeling a slight bit offended that his best friend hadn't even told him about what he was doing. Sure they weren't exactly that close anymore, especially since Mark spent so much time at the club hanging out with Donghyuck and the kids, but that didn't mean they should be so separated the way they are now. 

"Listen Mark." Lucas sighed, lowering his head and fiddling with his fingers, not wanting to tell Mark about how he had a big crush on some dude younger than him, and about how he had snuck into the teachers office to obtain the code to Renjun's locker, and then spend all day thinking about the positive messages he could give to him. "I don't wanna tell you, okay? Please don't push it."

Mark's face twisted in annoyance but he huffed out his breath before nodding, and then leaning back in his chair. A few moments of silence passed between the two and Mark's eyes wandered back to Lucas, who ignored him and began to copy the noted the teacher had put up in the board. Biting down on his lip, Mark squinted his eyes at the book that was sticking out of Lucas' bag.

A small, animal shaped book, stuffed in between his chemistry and maths books. Mark looked back up at Lucas, before turning his attention to the board.

He was gonna wait until Lucas himself was willing to tell him. 


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woahhhh an update??? What is this sorcery?? I was reading through the previous chapters and omg the number of typos and grammatical mistakes...I'm going to edit those before I post the next chapter. 
> 
> This is...sort of a filler, but not really? I don't know, I felt as though this would be a nice plot to use during this chapter. There wasn't much Markhyuck in this, but in the next one there will be :D
> 
> To those few people who waited for the next chapter, here it is!!! (Not edited and filed with mistakes 😚)

"Doesn't that make you a stalker?" Mark asked, confusing laced his sentence as Ten rolled his eyes, probably for what seemed like the tenth time already.

"Just because I follow him around, it doesn't mean I'm his stalker," Ten grumbled, clearly not pleased with what Mark had chose to comment on after his very long monologue complaining about how Taeyong, a guy in his dance class, was refusing to go out with him. "I'm just an admirer."

"A very loud and whiny admirer," Donghyuck mumbled and chose to ignore the glare he received from Renjun, who had also chosen to join the club, much to Donghyuck's dismay. "So what do you want from us? Taeyong seems to not be interested in you, he ignores every attempt you make to date him and has been very clear about how he truly feels towards you."

"He feels nothing but love and respect towards me," Ten held his chin high and dismissed the idea that Taeyong wasn't into him. Sure, Taeyong pushed Ten away every time he asked him out or tried to flirt with him, but that didn't mean he wasn't interested. He was just playing hard to get, and Ten was fine with that.

"Sure," Donghyuck huffed out before turning to Chenle and Jisung. "Can you two take care of him? I have stuff to do after school for the next week and can't really help with the club."

"Yeah!" Chenle jumped up, immediately agreeing to help Ten, who seemed like a nice guy. But then a hand landed on his and Jisung shot him a look. "Oh...wait, Jisung won't be able to join me."

"Why?" Donghyuck questioned, getting up from his seat and picked his bag up. Chenle and Jisung shared a look before they nervously coughed. 

"Jisung got detention for falling asleep in class," Chenle answered for him, both afraid of Donghyuck's wrath. As much as the older tended to speak as little as he could with the youngest two, he still managed to engage in an argument with them whenever he did converse.

Donghyuck opened his mouth to speak but Mark was quick to grab his hand and then nod at the kids. "That's okay. Jisung, you can go to detention. Chenle, help this guy out."

"This guy has a name," Ten rolled his eyes and then stood up when Chenle made a move for the door.

Renjun, who had been sitting a little away from Donghyuck, eyed Mark's hand that was casually placed over the blondes. Mark seemed to notice his gaze and hurriedly took it off. Donghyuck let out a deep sigh and then turned to Mark, ready to talk to him about how boring his lesson was when one of his teachers didn't show up.

"I had to ask, Donghyuck," Mark started in a small voice, not wanting Renjun to hear what they were going to speak about. Donghyuck nodded as a sign for Mark to continue. "What's your relationship with Jaemin?"

"Nothing," Donghyuck immediately answered with a glare. Renjun seemed to have caught on to what Mark had said and leaned forwards in his chair, causing Donghyuck to internally groan. 

"You guys live together," Mark pointed out. "But you said you hate him. Why would you move in with him if you hate him?"

He was stepping into unknown territory, but Mark was just curious. After finding out that the two had been living together, he couldn't make any sense of it no matter how hard he thought. Jaemin apparently didn't know a Donghyuck, but when Mark confronted him outside their shared apartment, they seemed close. Donghyuck had said that he hated Jaemin, so him with with the person he hates made Mark's mind spin in confusion.

"Mark," Donghyuck scowled. "This really isn't any of your business."

Silence followed and Mark realised he had overstepped the boundaries. Quickly, he stood up from his seat and apologised before running out of the room, alarming both Donghyuck and Renjun. A snicker was heard and Donghyuck snapped his head to the side to send Renjun a sharp look.

"Why haven't you told him yet?" Renjun asked, shuffling closer to Donghyuck and placed a hand over his shoulder. "Don't you trust him?"

"I do," Donghyuck shrugged off Renjun's hand and then glanced over at the door through which Mark had disappeared through. "But I don't want him to know about Jaemin. It's better to keep it a secret."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


☀️

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"So when did you and Taeyong meet?" Chenle asked as he walked down the corridor with Ten. The older held a hand to his chin and thought deeply about the question.

"Well, I've known him ever since he joined the dance club but we didn't actually speak until about last year," Ten explained. "I was taking part in a challenged and got assigned to him. That was the first time we spoke."

"So all the time before that," Chenle stopped and Ten followed. "You watched him from afar?"

"Yes, and I know it sounds cree—"

"I did the same!" Chenle excitedly cut Ten off and bounced on the spot. "You know Jisung? The boy I was sitting with? I used to admire him from far away until just recently with Donghyuck's hyung's help we properly met."

"Then why was that brat so shaken up by my story?" Ten asked, a little offended that Donghyuck had been looking down upon him when one of the members in his club had done the exact same thing. 

"Hyung is a little strange," Chenle commented as he recalled the time Donghyuck had purposely ignored Chenle the entire day when the younger was in need of help again. "Anyways, so this guy, Taeyong?"

"Hyung," Ten added. "Call him hyung."

"Okay, okay. So this Taeyong hyung," Chenle and Ten turned the corner and stopped at the cafeteria entrance. "Do you think he likes you back?"

"Mhm, I'm a hundred percent sure," Ten replied confidentially, smiling as if he had just won an award. 

"Maybe he thinks you're not being serious about your feelings?" Chenle suggested. 

Ten hummed in agreement and the two walked into the cafeteria, immediately getting hit with the sound of loud students. They shared a look before turning back around and heading straight for the library. "Alright, then let's show him that I really do like him."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


🍉

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"Notes on his locker?" Donghyuck looked up from his work and raised an eyebrow at Chenle, who had been updating him on the situation with Ten. "That's so childish."

"But it's one way to show that he isn't just joking around," Chenle whined and took a seat beside Donghyuck, but got up a few moments later when Mark entered the room and shot him a look. "Look, if this doesn't work then I'll take all the blame. But at least let me try."

"I still think Taeyong doesn't have any feelings for him," Donghyuck shook his head in disapproval. "You guys are probably going to harass him at this point."

Chenle opened his mouth to protest but closed it after a while. They're plan wasn't terrible but it wasn't the best either. Truth be told, Chenle had come to Donghyuck to get compliments for his efforts and work but all he got was slander.

"Good luck, Chenle," Mark smiled and waved at him as he left the room. At least Mark was still cheering him on. "Hey, Donghyuck."

"Hey," Donghyuck greeted back and forced his eyes back to his book.

"Sorry," Mark murmured and chewed down on his lip. 

"For what?" Donghyuck's eyes stayed on the book and he fought back the urge to look up at Mark. "You have nothing to apologise for."

"I overstepped my boundaries," Mark sighed in frustration. "I shouldn't have asked you about Jaemin if you weren't comfortable to talk about him."

Silence followed and Donghyuck could feel Mark getting more tense as the seconds passed. He didn't want Mark to feel bad for asking about Jaemin but it really wasn't his place to question Donghyuck's relationship with Jaemin. On top of that, Donghyuck wanted to keep Mark as away as he could from Jaemin. The less he knew the better.

"It's okay," Donghyuck smiled at Mark and then put his book on the side. "So, how was your day?"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


🐬

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


"I don't think Taeyong knows the notes are from me," Ten frowned as Chenle cut out more heart shaped papers. The younger stopped midway and gave Ten a pointed look. "I don't want to sign the note! What if someone else sees them and laughs at me?"

"So are you embarrassed by your feelings for Taeyong hyung?" Chenle's voice raised as he spoke. Ten looked shocked for a second and then shook his head frantically. 

"Of course not!" Ten defended himself, but this only fueled Chenle to continue.

"Are you sure?" Chenle teased, the frown on his face getting deeper. "If you were, you would be signing your name happily on the notes. You wouldn't care if he found out you were the one writing them to him. You wouldn't care if anyone else found them instead! You would be confident!"

"I would be confident!" Ten echoed and fist bumped the air. "Give me a heart paper, Chenle! I'm going to write him my sappiest love note ever."

"That's the spirit!"

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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"I don't know what Taeyong hyung looks like," Chenle said to Jisung as they avoided the gazes of their teacher. Jisung grunted as Chenle hit his leg. "Come on, do you know who he is?"

"I'm in the dance club as well, Chenle," He glared as their teacher shot them another look. "Can we talk after lesson? Both of us are failing maths already, can't afford to fail even more."

"Park Jisung, Zhong Chenle," Their teacher called out and Jisung sighed.

"Well done."

Their knees ached as they sat on the ground outside their class. They could hear the giggles from their classmates and tried their best to ignore it. 

"Okay, now that we're not in class," Chenle tilted his head to the side and smiled at Jisung. "How does this Taeyong hyung look like?"

"He's really good looking," Jisung finally gave in. "He's one of the best dancers in our class, you should come check us out."

"I will, one day," Chenle sighed and then leaned against Jisung. "My arms hurt."

"Maybe if you stayed quiet during lesson they wouldn't," Jisung stuck his tongue out at Chenle and then shrugged him off.

The bell rang almost immediately and Chenle jumped up from his spot. "Collect my detention slip please, thanks, Jisung." With that, Chenle ran into the class, grabbed his bag and disappeared down the corner. 

Ten had been asking for Chenle's help throughout the day. He wanted to ask for more help — and although it was strange getting help from Chenle, someone younger than him and just about as clueless as he was, but he was the only one there to offer any guidance.

"What do you need now?' Chenle asked as he took a seat beside Ten. 

"I'm thinking of just properly confessing to Taeyong," Ten murmured, using his fork to stab his chicken, sadly. "He's been getting close with one of the other members of our club and— and I don't like it."

"Hyung, only confess if you really think you're ready to confess," Chenle pat his back softly and then frowned when Ten's tensed muscles refused to relax. "Why are you so antsy? Did something happen?"

"Some guys in my class told me there was no chance of Taeyong and I dating," Ten places his fork down, a bitter smile over his face. "Maybe they're right. Taeyong barely knows I exist. We've spoken, like what, three or four times? Everything seems to be in my head; it's a delusion. Maybe...maybe Donghyuck was right. I'm not going to be able to be with Taeyong and it just— wow, it just feels wrong when I think about that."

"Then don't!" Chenle shook his head. Ten had seemed so motivated to be with Taeyong no matter what came between them, so how could a few harsh words from a small group of irrelevant people cause his goals to suddenly seem like nothing but a far fetched dream? "Hyung, don't give up just yet! You still aren't completely sure if Taeyong hyung has no feelings for you!"

"He doesn't even look at me," The first choked sob escaped Ten's mouth and Chenle panicked. "He doesn't—doesn't look at me. He doesn't talk to me. He probably likes our club leader."

"And who's that?" Chenle asked, a little too afraid to try and comfort Ten for the first few things he said but end up messing up. Jisung, despite being as childish as he was, was probably a lot better at comforting people. Chenle, on the other hand, wasn't the best at reading emotions and actions. 

"Taemin hyung," Ten sniffled. "Taeyong's friends with him. Taemin hyung's so cool, I wouldn't be surprised if he liked him. Wait— Chenle— wait." Ten's eyes widened comically and he turned to Chenle. "What if I've been coming in between them this whole time? What if Taeyong had been wanting to ask Taemin hyung out but I've been stopping them?"

"Hyung," Chenle placed a hand over his and soothing caressed it. "Calm down. I'm sure if you were interrupting something they would've told you. Come on, let's get out of here."

"Chenle, I may have a free after lunch but you have lessons to go to," Ten scolded and rubbed his eyes, wiping away the tears before they could've fallen. 

"Please, don't try lecturing me about school when you miss out on half of your lessons."

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


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"You guys are doing  _ what _ ?" Donghyuck slapped a hand against his forehead and everyone in the room hissed at the echoing sound. "Chenle— get back to school, right now! No, don't— Chenle!"

The call ended and Donghyuck pulled the phone away from his ear, his face red of anger and his fingers tightly clenched around the phone. "What did," Jisung cleared his throat nervously, almost melting beneath Donghyuck's gaze. "What did Chenle say?" He finally squeaked out.

"He bunked school with Ten and now they're not coming back to the club," Donghyuck ran a hand down his face in frustration before turning to Taeyong, who awkwardly squirmed in his chair. "Sorry, hyung. We'll somehow make Ten come to school so that we can get the plan going. Jisung, can you try?"

"It's okay," Taeyong chewed on his lip. "I'm kinda scared already. More time would mean I can calm myself down."

"You don't have to worry about him saying no," Mark giggled from next to Donghyuck. "I'm sure he'll probably jump on you."

"He's going to jump on me?" Taeyong's jaw dropped and Jisung had to try his best to not laugh. Mark was quick to resort to a stuttering mess and he explained to Taeyong how he didn't actually mean it. 

Donghyuck watched as Mark sighed out of relief once Taeyong got the idea and he fell back on his chair. 

"Hey," Donghyuck whispered, so that the others wouldn't catch what they were talking about. "Mark."

"Yeah?" Mark turned his head to the side, leaning in to hear him more clearly. Donghyuck felt his cheeks warm up as the distance between them was shortened greatly, and he had to try his best to not break out of his calm facade. 

"I'm sorry," Donghyuck felt a little bitter for having to apologise — a foreign concept he had nearly forgotten about. "Earlier this week. I shouldn't have gotten angry at you."

"Are you talking about when I asked about Jaemin?" Mark had lost interest in consoling Taeyong and diverted his full and undivided attention to Donghyuck. "If you are, then no need to apologise. I should've known my boundaries. And we've already spoken about this. It's perfectly fine."

"But still, I shouldn't have gotten angry over you being curious. I understand why you would want to know what's going on between Jaemin and I but—"

"It's okay, Donghyuck," Mark smiled softly and took Donghyuck's hand into his own, which was new and Donghyuck's face burst into flames (Renjun could see from the other side of the room and his 'quiet' snickering could be heard so clearly). "You can tell me whenever you feel comfortable to. Or don't tell me at all! It's completely your choice."

Donghyuck nodded slowly and just as he was going to continue speaking, the doors burst open and Chenle walked in.

"Jisung's hurt?" Chenle yelled as soon as he entered. His eyes scanned the room and froze at Jisung, who was sat up against the cupboard with his leg tucked between his arm. "Jisung!"

"Uh, hey, Chenle," Jisung looked over the older's head and gestured for Taeyong and Donghyuck to hurry up before focusing on him again. "We need to talk."

"We— we what?" Chenle quirked his eyebrow but still followed Jisung, who he thought was injured, out of the room. Renjun trailed behind them and soon there were only four of them in the room.

"Taeyong?" Ten questioned the presence of his crush and turned to Donghyuck. "What is he doing here?"

"He can explain that to you," Donghyuck hurriedly said and grabbed Mark's hand. "Good luck," he whispered to Taeyong, who shot back a shaky smile before the two of them exited the room as well.

Silence filled the emptiness in their conversation and Ten found it hard to sit still. Maybe Taeyong had come to the services club to ask them to help get him with Taemin, wouldn't be quite shocking. It hurt to know that none of them had told him about this and he nervously played with his fingers. What if they told Taeyong he liked him? What if the reason Taeyong was shifting his weight from heel to heel was because he was going to reject him? Rejection wasn't something Ten already wasn't good with, but he knew that if it included Taeyong then he wouldn't be able to handle it at all.

"Ten," Taeyong let out a soft sigh and started taking small footsteps towards him. "I need to tell you something really important."

"Yeah?" Ten cursed at himself when he stuttered through the word. "What is it?"

"We don't know each other that well—" 

_ Ah _ , Ten thought.  _ Here it is. The final rejection. _

"We barely speak to each other," Taeyong continued. "We were probably partnered up once in that dance challenge, but honestly—"

"If you're going to reject me, can you be a little quick about it?" Ten tapped his foot against the floor impatiently. It was better to pull off the bandaid in one go rather than drag it out and tear it apart slowly, painfully.

"Reject you?" Taeyong froze in his steps, only a few feet away from Ten. "You think I'm going to reject you?"

"What else would you be doing right now?" Ten answered with his eyes directed to the floor. 

Taeyong remained silent and Ten could feel the embarrassment seeping off him. He had been chasing this guy by confessing to him nearly every day, despite them only interacting with each other every so often and now he was going to be completely shut down. It felt bad.

"Ten," Taeyong chuckled softly and took the last few steps to him. "I'm not here to reject you."

"You're...not?" Ten raised his head and flushed at their sudden proximity. (Donghyuck, who was outside the room and peering through the windows, nodded in understanding of the feeling). "Then what are you here to do?"

"My plan was to confess to you through a long speech," Taeyong coughed, embarrassed that it failed so miserably. "But I guess I should just keep it simple." Ten's mouth parted in surprise and his body relaxed. "Ten, we don't know each other that well yet, I don't even know when your birthday is, or what your favourite coffee order is, or what fruits you—"

"I hate fruits," Ten paused and then blushed shyly. "I mean, sorry, continue."

"Uhm, yeah, as I was saying, we don't know about each others favourites, but I still have to say this to you," Taeyong took a deep breath and his eyes fluttered close so that he would have enough courage to say the next few things. "Ever since we first met, I really liked you. I would watch you from afar, be all nice to everyone and just be yourself. You started coming up to me randomly and telling me that you liked me...so I assumed it was just a joke for you, or something you just said with no feelings behind it. I came to this club asking for help and turns out you happened to come right after me.

"Ten, this may seem really stupid, regarding the fact that we aren't familiar with each other yet," Taeyong took ahold of Ten's hands and smiled. "But, will you go out with me?"

Ten felt his knees get weak so he did the first thing that came to his mind. He jumped into Taeyong. A crash was heard in the room and the five herding around the entrance ran in to check what happened. They found Ten's limbs wrapped around Taeyong and the two were in the ground. A chuckle escaped Donghyuck's mouth as he turned to Mark.

"He really did end up jumping."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/deelonghyuck)


End file.
